Purple Hearts
by Vale Luna
Summary: (AU) - Jessica and Kilgrave became best friends when they were both still kids. Now, as adults, they live in NYC together. It's easy living for the two super-powered individuals. Jessica doesn't want anything in her life to be different. But Kilgrave has other ideas. Both of their lives change forever the night he confesses his love for her.
1. Justified Assholes

Author's note:

Hey! I'm _Vale_ _Luna_ for those of you who don't know me. For those of you who are here _because_ of my story, 'Purple Kisses', hello again!

So, I am _well_ aware that many other authors have written about Kilgrave and Jessica meeting when they were kids. Becoming childhood friends, meeting later in life again, becoming heroes, becoming villains. The works. But I took a different route.

As you will see, Jessica and Kilgrave aren't heroes or villains. They're just two super-powered best friends, living their day to day lives. This is _purely_ a love story.

I was going to make this a one-shot, because I don't plan for it to be that long. But because of my focus on my other story, I decided to put it out in like 2-5 very brief chapters.

Last but not least, if you aren't here because of my other story, I really encourage you to check it out! I have 50+ chapters and we're still going strong! I would love for more people to join us on our little adventure!

Enjoy!

* * *

 _ **Chapter One: Justified Assholes**_

"I got you this." Kilgrave smiles at Jessica, extending his hand to her.

Her eyebrow raises and when it's in her hand, she rolls her eyes. "You know I hate jewelry." He shrugs but she pulls back her hair to put it on anyway.

"Aww, I know you love it when I spoil you." He teases and reaches for it back. "Here." Taking the necklace, he walks behind her and helps put it around her neck. The charm that was hanging on the silver chain was a purple heart, outlined in a dark indigo color.

"You're a fucking idiot." Though she tries to keep her tone semi-serious, she has to bite down on her lower lip to stop herself from smiling so much. It was true that she hated jewelry but she had a feeling that this was going to look good on her either way.

When it's properly clipped on, he walks in front of her again. "There. Mmm, gorgeous." He purrs in a mocking way before flopping down on the sofa.

"Who did you steal if from?" She smirks, taking up a new bottle of whiskey.

"Well, you hate when I take from the middle class so I nicked it off a homeless man." It was obvious he was joking, but she still gives him a glare, to which he laughs. "There's a shitty jewelry store a few blocks from here. They love to rip people off, so I returned the favor."

"Fair enough." She shrugs and sits down next to him.

They had a proper code to live by. And as long as they only took from people who deserved it, it made them _justified_ assholes. A title that they both willingly accepted.

After Kevin's parents abandoned him, he found some adults whose interpretation of " _Help me"_ , was to bring him to an orphanage. The center in Manchester was getting closed down due to construction, so they transferred the kids to the home's sister-orphanage in New York. There, he met Jessica.

Since her whole family died in a car accident, the two of them related in their trauma. As a friendship developed, they discovered more about their powers together.

Kevin gained the nickname, 'Kilgrave' from a game they used to play. He was keen on playing the villain, and as a child with a vivid imagination, he named himself, 'Doctor Murder-Corpse'. Jessica was quick to make fun of the name and teased that he should just call himself 'Motherfucker Kill-Grave'. She never let it go, and he never lived it down, so the name stuck. Sooner or later, he got used to it and embraced it as himself after a few obvious modifications. Kevin Thompson died when his parents left him.

Kevin would have used his powers to get adopted, but once he met Jess, he didn't want to leave her. And she wasn't sold on the idea of belonging to a new family. So, they ran away with nothing but each other.

The first few months were rough. They disagreed on how to go about living this way, though eventually, they came up with a prime set of rules that they both promised to live by.

These rules were:

 _1\. We can't steal from/hurt normal people._

 _2\. We **can** steal from/hurt assholes, only if we both agree that it's fair and that they deserve it._

 _3\. We don't use our powers on each other._

 _4\. (Modification of rule #3) - We **can** use our powers on each other **only** if one of us has broken any of the other rules._

 _Most importantly:_

 _5\. We **NEVER** abandon each other._

These five, unbreakable rules, bonded them like family. From that point on, they only ever needed one another. It sounds stupid when they say they're best friends, but there was no better way to describe it.

Now, they were living in a quaint apartment, in the heart of New York City. Neither of them had a job for obvious reasons, and they lived their lives a day at a time. In Jessica's opinion, there was no better way to live.

As she always does, she lays her head on Kilgrave's shoulder and pops open the bottle. After she takes a long chug, she offers it up, "Want some?"

Although he takes it from her and takes a large gulp, he complains immediately after. "Fucking hell, I don't know how you drink that shite all the time." As she snatches it back, he wraps his arm around her.

"If you don't want it then don't fucking drink it." She growls in response, nursing the glass as she normally does.

"Jesus, Jess."

"I'm sorry…" She was whining a little this time and pushes up against him, pulling her feet up on the couch. "I just… oh goddamn…" Her grip tightens on the drink as she mumbles, "I need to have a good, meaningless fuck again."

Kilgrave laughs and looks down at her. "What ever happened to that guy you slept with like three days ago?"

"Ugh. He's the type that seems like he wants to get married and have seven kids. Fucking disgusting. I had to get rid of him quick before he started getting clingy."

He can't help but continue to mess with her in saying, "What? You don't want to settle down with a nice guy?"

"Pssh." She scoffs at the rhetorical question, before she starts to purr at him, "The only man I want to spend the rest of my life with is you, you stupid bastard." Her head slides down his chest and lands in his lap, her ridiculously brown eyes gazing up at him.

He was good at keeping his emotions from showing on his face, but his smile in this moment seems sadder than it was only a minute ago. "It's dangerous to say things like that. I might just have to marry you."

She laughs to herself as she lets the glass slip out of her hand and onto the floor. Whether it landed upright or not, she didn't really care, as her eyes were beginning to close.

"Hey, hey! I'm not going to let you fall asleep here." His one arm falls over her, and he uses his other hand to gently slap her cheek.

"Yeah? Watch me." A slight smirk comes across her face as she swats his hand away and stretches out, getting comfortable with his lap as a pillow.

"I don't want to have to order you." He jokes, while still trying to nudge her off of him.

"You use your powers on me, and I'm liable to punch you in the throat, full force." She shrugs, keeping her eyes closed. "You know the rules."

"I know." He sighs melodramatically, accepting the fact that he had no choice but to let her stay here.

Her breathing becomes subtly more gentle as she begins to fall asleep, and his hand gracefully strokes back her hair. Even in her sleep, she naturally leans into his touch.

Although he had a long day and he was excruciatingly tired, he just wanted to enjoy this moment. Watching the soft motion of her chest rise and fall calmed him beyond belief. But it also made him think too hard about their future together. It was getting to the point where it was painful for him to keep ignoring his feelings…

Instead of closing his eyes, he picks up the whiskey bottle off the floor.


	2. More than Friends

Author's note:

This story is rated M.

* * *

 _ **Chapter Two: More than Friends**_

The bottle was empty.

It was just past two in the morning.

"Jess…" Kilgrave shakes her shoulders to try and wake her.

"Hmm." She hums with her eyes closed, pushing up against his stomach.

"Jessica." He says a little louder, the clear slur in his voice showing this time.

Her answer is groggy when she mumbles, "What?"

"I have to talk to you." It was nearly impossible for him to whisper now and he was closer to shouting, knowing that he needed to spit this out before he lost the courage.

"Fuck, okay!" Groaning, she sits up and rubs her eyes. Still sort of half out of it, she looks at him with fuzzy vision. "What is it?"

Before he can get any other words out, he starts to heave, on the edge of throwing up. His lips stay sealed, attempting to push through, but it makes it rather hard for him to speak.

Watching his behavior and seeing the empty bottle on the floor, Jessica slowly starts to laugh. "Holy shit… you're such a lightweight."

Swallowing the burning liquid in his mouth, he tries to shake his head. "N-no. No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are. You're so fucking wasted." She continues to chuckle, standing up. "Come on, let's go to bed." There was a painful crook in her neck from the way she had slept so it was probably best that he woke her up before long. She needed a proper pillow, and it was her job to take care of him while he was so drunk. Taking his hand, she pulls him to his feet with ease.

"No, seriously…" He's quick to pull his hand away, immediately wobbling with instability. "I have to… to tell you."

"Okay, then tell me." Impatiently waiting, she crosses her arms, ready to move fast if he started to fall.

"I -" It felt like he was going to vomit again. Not because of the alcohol, but because of what he was going to say.

Rolling her eyes, she grabs his arm and pulls him into the bedroom. "You can tell me in the morning as you suffer through the hangover you're going to have."

When they're in front of the bed, he steps away from her once more. There was no going back once these words escaped him mouth, and he prayed to god that he wouldn't regret it. "I-I love you, Jessica."

She smirks and nods, speaking to him as if speaking to a child. "Yes, and I love you too, asshole. Now lay down before you tip over." Beyond comfortable around him, she takes off her shirt and throws it in a pile on the ground.

"No." He growls in frustration, his temple beginning to throb, stopping her from continuing. "I… I'm _still in love_ with y-you…"

She freezes for only a second before laughing a nervous, unconvincing laugh. "Yeah, okay." This wasn't the first time she was hearing this from him. Last time, he was exhausted, but sober, and tried to convince her that he had some sort of romantic interest in her. But she chalked it up to his fatigue and he was quick to let it go. She was hoping that she would never hear anything about it again.

Her lack of acceptance sets him on edge. "I'm serious…"

"No, you're drunk." She counters, trying to play it off and forget that this was happening. "You don't know what you're saying right now." The thought of living without him made her queasy, but she disagreed with the thought of him in an intimate way. It just felt… wrong. She thought of him more as a brother than anything else…

"Jess…" He whimpers almost, trying to keep himself from feeling overwhelmed. It was going to crush him if she rejected him completely.

"Kilgrave, just go to sleep, okay?" Avoiding his eyes, she works herself out of her jeans.

But as he starts to feel his heart break, the panic begins to settle in. The panic from the thought that he fucked it all up. That he wouldn't be able to have her. That he they'd both spend the rest of their lives dwelling on how this moment ruined everything. He couldn't handle the idea of it.

"Jessica." He tries again, is voice trembling with upset. "Please just -"

"No." At this point, she was as frustrated as him. Every time he spoke, it was making her feel sick. "Seriously. Drop it."

Instead of letting it go, he grabs her wrist, stopping her from laying down. There was no filter anymore, it was all just coming out. "I want… I need you."

Without much effort, she pulls away from his grip, almost knocking him over in the process. "Just fucking stop, okay?! You're not even going to remember this in the morning and I'm going to be left wishing I could forget! Don't -"

"Kiss me." He blurts out before he can even try and stop himself from giving her an order.

The angry expression on her face dissolves as she steps to him absentmindedly and cups his cheeks. Her eyelids flutter shut as she leans up and kisses him on the lips for the first time. A quick, yet ridiculously gentle kiss.

Kilgrave knew wholeheartedly that he should have regretted forcing her to do that. But the fact of the matter was, that in this moment, he didn't. She tasted like everything he wanted her to taste like.

When she fulfills the order, she steps back and looks at him with onsetting horror. "Why… why did you -"

His breathing hitches as he cuts her off, muttering, "Again… like you want me…"

Grabbing him back the jacket, she pulls him close to her and opens her lips against his immediately this time. Her tongue strokes his slowly but with force, trying to consume him. Being drunk, he kisses her back sloppily, moaning into her mouth. "Oh… Jessica." His hands cup her cheeks and he turns her around, pushing her back to the wall.

After a few seconds pass and the command starts to fade, her heart pounds and she pushes his arms down and away from her. "Stop… what are you doing?" Her voice trembles with fear for first time in her life. Fear of her best friend.

But the pause in contact makes him snap. He was at his breaking point for patience, and he couldn't wait any longer. "No…" He mumbles shaking his head, his sense blurred with alcohol. "Let me."

With her ability to protest taken away, he puts one of his hands back up to her cheek and kisses down the side of her neck. His breathing becomes more irregular with every passing second. This was his wildest fantasy come true.

The wet dreams of Jessica started with they were teenagers and he began going through puberty. It alarmed him at first, mostly because she wasn't his type at all. Stubborn, crude, and taller than him at the time. The longer this continued to happen and the more he fantasized about her body, the more normal it became to him. It was later, as they were growing into adults together that he begin to realize that it was more than just pure physical attraction. The fact of the matter remained that no matter who he slept with, he always wound up thinking of her.

And knowing that he had thought about this instant in time for so many years made him that much more animalistic in nature. His other hand slides up her stomach and under her bra, fondling her breast tenderly.

When he hears her whimper from his touch, he mutters something that he never intended to say to her out loud, "Love me, Jess. Love me like it _hurts_."

The sound of her whimpering remains as she draws him closer and rubs her hips to his. It _did_ hurt, but in more than one way now.

Drawing her away from the wall, he motions for her to lay down, which she does without any allotted resistance, looking up at him with an impatient expression. He stumbles over her, giving one last command as he reaches to pull down her underwear, "Tell me you love me."

She instinctively reaches for his belt as she mumbles without choice, "I love you."

* * *

Author's note pt.2:

Maybe you thought this was poorly predictable, and I can't say you're wrong. I think about 200 words in, most everyone knew how this would go. That's one of the reasons I didn't write the full rape scene. I've written it before, and we don't need to see it all to understand what clearly happened.

There will probably be only one more short chapter to conclude this, and see what will happen. Anything is possible!

Thanks for checking in!


	3. Acknowledging Fate

_**Chapter Three: Acknowledging Fate**_

Kilgrave woke up alone in bed, around one in the afternoon.

It had to have been a nightmare. It had to.

All of the details of last night weren't there, as his memory of the events was hazing from the abundance of alcohol he had consumed. But what he knew clearly was that he had broken one of their sacred rules multiple times… and to do something horrific at that.

"No, no, no." It felt like part of him was dying on the inside. What had he done?! "Jessica?" He calls, though his voice shakes and he's barely audible. It didn't help that his hangover was adding to his headache.

He stumbles out of bed and throws on yesterday's clothes to find their apartment empty. Of course, his next move is to call her, but he gets sent straight to voicemail.

This is what a panic attack must feel like. Not being able to take a full breath. Feeling like the air was purposely suffocating. Heart pounding so fast that it might burst. Constriction in the chest. Uncontrollable trembling. The idea that the world around him was decaying, and he was stuck in the middle of it. Forced to watch without an ounce of control. This terror was perpetually constant for hours until the front door opened. It was past five when Jessica finally returned to their shared home.

What she would never admit aloud is that she spent most of her day trying not to cry. And when she couldn't hold it in any longer, it broke her. There was only one person in the world that she trusted with her life. One person that she knew she could always count on. And last night, he violated her in the most painful way.

She doesn't initially look him in the eyes when he stands up from his seat, and she slams the door behind her.

The moment they're in the same room together, Kilgrave whimpers, "Jess…"

"Shut. The fuck. Up." She growls, forcing herself to show anger to hide all of her other conflicting emotions.

His eyes lower to the ground, and he can't think to do anything, so he simply stands in front of her, waiting for what she would do. He stands there, practically bowing to her in silence. He doesn't dare look up either, but the suspense was killing him. What was she thinking?

When at least a full minute had passed, Kilgrave finally lifts his head, but makes sure their eyes don't connect as he weakly mutters, "You know the rules. _I_ know the rules… you have every right to hit me…"

Of course, he was right. For every time he used his powers on her, she had the right to hit him as hard as she liked. There wasn't a clear number of commands he had given out last night, he simply couldn't remember. But he knew one thing for sure. If she hit him as hard as she could, more than three times, she could very well kill him. And that would certainly be her prerogative. He wouldn't even try to stop her, there would be no point. In fact, it would make him feel the slightest bit better if she _did_ hit him. It would be the closest he could get to some form of repentance, and maybe try to move on from the mess he had gotten them into. How else were they to move forward?

To his surprise, she hesitates. "I know." She says back through clenched teeth and stares back at him for a moment.

She wasn't going off on him, and her quietness about the situation was only making him feel worse. Maybe that was the point. "Jess… you know I… I didn't mean to -" He was already choking on his words, but she doesn't let him get a full sentence out anyway.

The instant he opens his mouth, Jessica steps closer to him and reaches over his shoulder, grabbing the back of his shirt with her left hand. In one swift movement, she jerks him down so he bends over and draws her fist back, punching him in the gut with her right hand. She holds him there so he doesn't get pushed back, and waits for the impact to register with him.

Kilgrave stays hunched over and suddenly gasps as she strikes him, getting the wind completely knocked out of him. He's quick to start coughing, and eventually whimpers from the pain. Since she was keeping a hold on his shirt, she didn't allow him to crumple to the floor like he wanted to, so he merely covers his stomach with his arms. This wasn't an attempt to defend himself, but just an involuntary reaction.

It hurt like hell. Obviously. However, what he didn't expect was that this was _nothing_ from Jessica. Compared to the true power of her strength, this was basically just a love-tap from her. She could have broken his ribs, but she most likely only left a bruise. Why had she held back?

She gives him barely enough time to get his breath back before she lets go of him and takes a step back. "Stand up straight." She says in a demanding tone, though her fist loosens.

It takes everything he had to do as she says and straighten his stance, his hands still clutching at the site of the punch she delivered. This time, their eyes do connect and her gaze is softer than what he had anticipated it would be. "Where's the rest?" He croaks weakly, continuing to acknowledge the fact that his fate was in her hands, practically encouraging her to keep going.

Taking a deep breath, she realizes that hitting him once was satisfying enough, and beating the shit out of him wouldn't do their friendship any good. Instead, she reminds herself of what she had spent all day thinking about.

Her tone is no longer angry when she speaks, but calm and authoritative. "You're going to take a shower, and get dressed. Then, you're going to take me out to dinner. And if I _ever_ get over the shit you just put me through, and our date goes well, _I_ will determine if we move forward in a relationship or not."

"Our date?" He seemed confused now, but there was the smallest twinkle of involuntary hope in his eyes.

"Yes." She has to close her eyes for a moment, causing her to pause before saying. "But if I decide against _anything_ , then that's it. You drop _everything_ about being in love with me. Do you understand?"

He quickly nods, blinking in astonishment. She was giving him a chance.

"No matter what happens, no matter what I decide about how we're gonna do this, you promise me this _one_ thing _now_." Her voice becomes drastically more serious now as she growls. It's unclear to him, but she was fighting off tears again. "We _never_ abandon each other."

Living without being in a romantic relationship with Jessica was hard, but losing her friendship forever was just not an option for Kilgrave. He'd do anything to stop that from happening, and his heart melts when he hears that not only was she giving him a chance with her, but she wasn't going anywhere.

"Never." He answers with absolute confidence, the pain of her punch and his panic attack slowly subsiding.

It was going to take time for Jessica to forgive what he had done to her, but Kilgrave was all she had. Before, she had never thought of him romantically, only because they had grown up together. But sleeping with random guys every week was getting old and there was never a connection with anyone else. She couldn't live like that forever. Kilgrave was the only person she could talk about anything with, who understood her sense of humor and had any sense of rapport with her.

If he had honestly been in love with her this whole time, he was really fucking patient. Although this one mistake was a colossal one, it shouldn't stop her from giving him _one_ shot. He deserved that much. And the added clause that she could end it anytime, and they could still be friends was one of the only things easing her conscious.

When he responds with that single word, she manages a mellower expression. "Good." Somewhat playfully, she shoves him backward and walks around him to sit down on the sofa. "You owe me like a thousand dinners, so hurry up and shower. You smell like booze."

Her demeanor was beginning to return to normal, and relieved was an understatement for Kilgrave. As he stumbles his way to the bathroom, he responds by teasing, as he ordinarily would, "You mean I smell like you?"

Hearing the bathroom door close, she yells in his direction, "Asshole!" She has to bite her lower lip to stop herself from smiling.

Once she hears the shower running, she quietly gets up and heads to the bedroom. It takes a minute before she finds the necklace that Kilgrave had put on her yesterday. It had fallen off in her sleep and got lost under the covers.

She sighs to herself and puts it back on, standing in front of a mirror. Jewelry still wasn't her thing… But the purple heart pendant did seem to suit her.

* * *

Author's note:

Oh fuck, it's getting close to a year since I updated this mini-story. I was convinced to finish this now since I'm in the midst of finals and these chapters are a lot shorter than a full chapter of Purple Roses would be.

Okay, would this have been what I would have written as a (sort of) ending to this alternate universe 6 months ago? Absolutely not. It probably would have been much sadder and darker heh… But as most of you know me from my first main story, Purple Kisses, I _needed_ to write something a little more hopeful after I ended that story. So, not happily-ever-after, but there is hope.

I _MIGHT_ write like a little epilogue and check up on these two later, but we'll see.

Anyway, thanks for reading, as always! Let me know if you guys really want that epilogue bit and I'll see what I can do :)


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